Memories Are Made Of This
by MaiaRutledgeFan
Summary: Diana is having trouble sleeping. Strange dreams... or are they more than that? Just what, exactly, is the future up to now?
1. Chapter 1

**Memories Are Made Of This**

Disclaimer: If I owned The 4400...it would not be over. Don't even get me started.

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_The room was quiet, a peaceful shade of white. Around her, figures moved purposefully around the room, surrounding something too small to be seen amongst the action._

_She registered a strange feeling of missing something, like she was maybe missing a body part, or something equally important that should be on her person but wasn't. She felt a burning desire to get that thing back right away._

_Suddenly a weak cry broke the silence and the room was abuzz with murmurs. The feeling of wanting became so extreme she cried out._

And awoke with start.

Diana Skouris shook her head, bemused. What a bizare dream. Everything had been so vague... it was impossible to discern anything from it, to analyze it. She rolled over and closed her eyes again, the strange feeling of longing still lingering like a faint fog within her head.

ooo

The following night found Diana watching some medical drama half heartedly, Maia stretched out on the couch beside her. She watched the doctors and nurses run a patient into the ER, and then send a doctor to see a patient in another cubicle. The scene rang faint bells in her head. Hospitals. That what the dream reminded her of. A hospital room. The thought unnerved Diana a bit, but made no sense whatsoever, She disliked hospitals as much as the next person, she suposed. Maybe that was all it was.

'Mommy? Moommmmy.'

She turned and blinked at Maia's hand waving in her face.

Maia laughed.

'I'm going to bed. Maybe you oughta too!'

Diana raised her eyebrows, smiling.

'Is that so!'

She kissed her daughter lightly and watched her meander off to her room, quite comfortable on the couch. Nonetheless, she soon made her way to bed, thinking only of the masses of paperwork waiting on her desk the following morning.

ooo

_The room wasn't so quiet anymore. Now, she could make out murmers coming from the figures in the room. Anxious murmers. As she strained to see more, she could see that the figures were clearly doctors, nurses, all rushing around what she could make out to be a hospital room. She sat up in what she guessed what was the hospital bed. Everything was clearer now._

'_Is she going to be okay?'_

_It took her a few secconds to recognise the voice as her own, and she wondered who she was talking about._

_A few moments later, she saw the nurse turn around, carrying what appeared to be a blur of pink wrapped in a white towel._

_A baby._

ooo

'Watching too much late night TV, Diana?'

Diana looked up to face her partner warily.

'Excuse me?'

Tom made a sympathetic face.

'The bags under your eyes. Either that or or you're trying to get ahead of me with this paperwork and taking it home.'

Diana turned back to her files.

'Just...weird dreams. Doesnt make for quality sleep.'

The corners of Tom's mouth turned up.

'Kinky?'

Diana shot him a dirty look before getting up to find a coffee machine.

'If only.'

ooo

_This time, she knew what the feeling of missing something was. It was her baby. She wanted to hold her, to feel her, to have her with her._

_As the nurse turned around, the baby made a small cry, and it almost broke Diana's heart._

'_Please...is she going to be okay?'_

_A doctor leaned in to talk to her, his voice calm and kind. _

'_Miss Skouris, we need to monitor your baby for a while yet. Premature births...they can cause all sorts of complications. Unfortunately we're not out of the woods yet.'_

_The nurse began to hurry out of the room, the baby still in her arms._

_Panic rising in her throat, she pleaded franticly with the doctor._

'_No, please... I need to stay with her...'_

_The doctor shook his head firmly. _

'_You've just been through a traumatic birth, Miss Skouris. You need to rest, and we need to keep our eye on you aswell.'_

_Diana understood, but it didn't feel okay._

'_Please...there must be a way. I don't ... I don't want her to be alone...Please !!.'_

This time, when Diana woke up, she was crying.

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What do you think? The next chapter will be up soon!


	2. Chapter 2

**Memories Are Made Of This**

Disclaimer: If I owned The 4400...it would not be over. Don't even get me started.

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'A Baby?'

Diana nodded warily

'Yup. My baby.'

Marco considered this, puzzled.

'I honestly can't begin to imagine what that would mean.'

'I'm hoping its just some weird maternal reaction to some show I must have seen.'

Marco considered this.

'Maybe... maybe a little bit of Maia's abilities are rubbing off on you.'

Diana shot him a pained look.

'Don't get me wrong...I love Maia to pieces. But I certainly don't see any more babies in my future.'

ooo

_Diana was following a nurse down a hallway. A feeling of anticipation was creeping over her with increasing urgency. Suddenly they came to a room, and the nurse opened the door for her._

_Diana blinked, trying to make out what was in the room. After a few secconds, she saw it, and the sense of urgency melted away._

_There, in the middle of the room, was a plastic, medical-type crib. And in the crib, was a baby. Her baby. _

_She crept closer to the crib, and as the baby came into full view, she felt a tear of relief slide down her cheek. She stroked the baby's tiny, downy head with her finger, then traced her finger down to the babies tiny hands, and tiny fingers. She spotted, around the baby's wrist, a small plastic band. She turned it closer to read, and her breath caught in her throat._

_The baby's name was Maia Skouris._

ooo

Hear head was so low in her hands that morning, it was practically in her cornflakes.

She was so tired. And even more than she was tired, she was confused.

That night, she had no dreams. She awoke just after dawn, slightly bemused by the realisation she had had no dreams that night, and the faint disapointment she felt, feeling a bizare connection to the baby Maia. She got up and padded into Maia's room, standing in the doorway a moment before crossing over to the bed and laying down next to her daughter, her pang for baby Maia dulling as her daughter breaths, very much real, soothed her back to sleep.

The following night, the dreams were back.

ooo

Diana couldn't pretend the dreams weren't getting to her. It was a lot easier to lie to others than to lie to yourself.

She sat on a wooden bench in the park, trying to consciously acknowlege the realness of the world around her. The intensity of the dreams, their reference to Maia... it was hard to stop a little bit of them creeping into her daily consciousness. She watched a dog do its business over by the lake, watched a toddler walk unsteadily between its Grandparents. She watched Maia wait patiently for her turn on the slide.

Last night's dream had almost overshadowed the baby dreams. It hadn't mucked her about this time, no vague shapes and colors. This dream had been vivid, and straight to the point. But it hadn't ended, and Diana almost looked forward to going to bed that night, like waiting for the final episode of a miniseries.

She had been on a bench, in a park. Just like she was now. Only the people seemed... different somehow. Something about their clothes... she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She had watched the kids playing, the day was beautiful and the playground was busy.

She had watched a small girl careen down the slide, stumbling a little at the bottom and landing on her knees. Diana had jolted, about to get up out of her seat to help the girl. It was then she realised why she had started - the girl was Maia.

She wasn't sure how she knew, having never seen a photo of Maia that young. But it was in her face, and though from far away it was hard to tell, instinctively she had known.

She had sat down then, as the small Maia had stood up, bravely brushed herself off, and disappeared around the slide towards the swings.

It was then she had heard a scream, and several shouts. And then she had woken up.

Diana smiled at her daughter - the real version - as she came towards her.

'Mom? Did we bring any snacks?'

'No sweetie, sorry. You hungry?'

Maia nodded, and Diana stood up, squeezing her daughter a little tighter than normal as she put her arm around her.

'Lets go get some lunch.'

ooo

_She watched Maia run around the slide on her stubby little preschool legs._

_And then a scream pierced the air, and several adults began shouting. She saw mothers nearby gathering up their children and shepharding them away from the playground._

_She stood up, panicked, and hurried towards the spot she'd last seen Maia, searching franticly._

'_Maia? Maia, where are you!'_

'_Mommy!'_

_Diana whirled and saw Maia running towards her from the other side of the playground._

_She gathered her up and ran in the general direction of the other parents. After a few metres she stopped and turned to see what she was running from._

_A dog, obviously rabid, was stalking menacinly over the grass by the swings, growling at the gradually approaching dog control officers. It didn't take long for them to capture it and drag it off towards their van, but Diana was shaken. She shifted Maia onto her hip and walked quickly away from the park._

When Diana awoke, sunlight was streaming in through a crack in the curtains. She felt like she'd barely slept at all. As she got up to begin her day, the dream slipped away from her a little. She pushed it a bit, to be honest. The whole thing made absolutely no sense - dogs, parks, none had any particular deep meaning to either her or Maia! But one detail in particular stuck in her head. The mothers... they were all wearing weird clothes. Like they'd stepped off a 1940's Good Housekeeping Magazine.

ooo

She took Maia shopping that day. She felt like maybe they hadn't spend enough time together lately. Maia acted casual, like they did so every day. But Diana knew her daughter well enough to know that secretly, Maia was utterly pleased. She was taken with everything Diana suggsted she try on, and even helped Diana pick out a couple of slightly less Diana-ish outfits. It made Diana feel slightly guilty for not doing this more often.

As they made their way through the mall, Diana thought. Hard. About why she didn't ask Maia if she remembered the experience with the dog. If it had actually happened at all. Or wether Diana had made it up in her subconscious. She had plenty of issues - it wouldn't suprise her. Maybe - maybe she was scared of the answer.

That night, Diana had the dream again. Only this time, with a 90's wardrobe.

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Please review if you happen across it and give it a read - I' love to know what you think!

Next chapter up soon


	3. Chapter 3

**Memories Are Made Of This**

Disclaimer: If I owned The 4400...it would not be over. Don't even get me started.

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'_Maia! Maia, come on, we're going to be late.'_

_Diana waits patiently at the door, schoolbag in one hand, coffee in the other._

_Maia runs out of her room, one shoe buckle flapping merrily._

_Diana bends down to fasten it, and when she straightens up, finds herself outside what appears to be a kindergarten classroom._

_Maia takes her mom's hand excitedly, and the two venture into the cheerful classroom. Maia looks happily at her mom, and runs over to the coloring table - her favorite passtime. _

_Diana stands there awkwardly, trying to pretend she doesn't feel childishly unwanted. She mentally kicks herself, reminds herself that its okay to miss her, but she's 5 now and you should be proud of her for settling so well into school!_

_Diana makes her way over to the coloring table and kneels at Maia's level._

'_Sweetie - I'm going to go now, okay?'_

_Maia smiles._

'_Sure, mommy. I'll just be over here.'_

_Diana again furiously reminds herself to feel proud, not neglected, and stands up, fishing out her car keys._

_Maia stands up, too._

'_You mean you're actually leaving the school?'_

_Now she looks worried, and Diana can't help being a little relieved that she's still at least a little needed ._

_Maia's lower lip trembles, and a lone tear trails down her cheek._

'_I thought...I thought maybe you would stay on the first day.'_

_Tears are racing down her cheeks, now, and as she begins to cry, Diana gathers her into a hug._

'_Come on, baby. We talked about this. I'm going to go to work for a while and you're going to stay here and play with the kids, and have lunch with them. Then I'll come back and get you, okay?'_

_Maia nodds into Diana's shoulder._

'_But what if you f f f forget to come back!'_

_Diana pulls back and cups Maia's face in her chin._

'_You really think I'd forget you, Maia? Believe me, I'll be thinking about you all day.'_

_Maia nodds and sits back down at the coloring table._

'_I'm going to color this one for you, mommy.'_

_Diana gives her a lingering kiss, and nodds._

'_I look forward to it, sweetie..'_

_ooo_

Maia stared into the refridgerator, and did a once over of the contents. Her plan had been to make breakfast, but now her morning was looking like cold cereal and then perhaps making a shopping list.

As she reached above the counter to get down a bowl, her mom came into the kitchen.

'Morning mommy.'

'Morning sweetie.'

Diana was absentmindedly towling her hair dry, staring distractadly into the kitchen.

'Hey, Maia? Do you know where that folder, is, you know, the brown one with all your drawings in? We started it when you made me that picture you first day of Kindergarten.'

Diana patted at her hair for a few secconds before she clicked that Maia was staring at her, unresponsive.

'Maia...?'

'What...what are you talking about.'

Maia put the bowl down on the table, confused.

'How do you... how do you know about that?'

Diana dropped the towel on the back of a chair.

'Don't you remember, Maia? That manilla folder, it had heaps of drawings and paintings in. I don't actually think I've seen it since we moved to this apartment.'

Maia shook her head, upset.

'I don't understand...you're kinda scaring me, mommy. There is no folder. Atleast...not here. My...my other mom - she used to keep one for me when I was little. She... she used to keep it on top of the f f fridge.'

Maia started to cry a little. Partly because she was sad, but also was scared by the way her mom was acting. How did she know about the folder?

Diana stepped towards her daughter.

'Maia, what...'

Suddenly it dawned on her, and a shadow flitted across her face. She crossed the room quickly and knelt down to wrap her arms around her tearful daughter, rubbing her back gently.

'Oh, Maia. I'm...I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking.'

ooo

'What was I thinking?'

Diana paced the theory room, her heels clicking on the linoleum.

Marco held his hands up in a submissive gesture.

'Diana...honestly...I have no idea what's going on here.'

'Well could you try a little harder? These dreams are invading my conscious... this morning... it was like I had started to believe it was real!'

She turned to Tom.

'How 'bout you? Any theories? Cause anything you got is better than what I've got, which is nothing.'

Tom drummed his fingers thoughtfully against his coffee mug.

'Is it possible... is it possible that maybe these things, all happened to Maia? Before she was abducted?'

Diana stared at Tom, biting her lip.

'I guess it's possible. The thing that scares me, though, its how these...these images got in my head in the first place! Maia never spoke of any of them.'

Marco stood up.

'I guess we could take a look back through her records... but Diana, really...the only person who is going to know in this day and age, is Maia.'

Diana looked pained.

'I don't...I don't want to make her dredge up memories from back then. It will only upset her... I think I've done enough of that today. Besides...it's not like she's going to remember her birth, or things that happened when she was 3 or 4.'

'Yeah, but maybe her parents told her about it. If it was something traumatic, or important - which all these occurences seem to be - it's quite likely that she would remember.'

Tom nodded in agreement.

'I really think you need to talk to Maia.'

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Please review if you happen across it and give it a read - I' love to know what you think, and if you have any suggestions! The fourth chapter will be up soon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Memories Are Made Of This**

Disclaimer: If I owned The 4400...it would not be over. Don't even get me started.

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It had been a long day for both of the Skouris girls, and dinner passed in a welcomed, if somewhat awkward silence. Maia went voluntarily to bed not much later, and Diana promised herself she would talk to Maia in the morning. If something didn't come up.

She tossed and turned in her bed, her body tired but her brain anoyingly busy. Eventually she fell into an exhausted sleep, her body twisted amongst the bedclothes.

_'I'm sure it will clear up soon Maia. And if it doesn't, we'll just have a picnic in the car.'_

_'No, mommy, I want to go outside and play!'_

_'Oh, no. You're gonna get all wet sweetie. Maybe later.'_

_'Please?' Maia looked hopefully out the window. 'It's a very light shower. Please? I won't get wet.'_

_Maia punctuated this with a last-resort pout._

_'Okay.'_

_Maia grinned widely. 'Yay!'_

_'But for just a minute.'_

'_Okay'_

_'And I want you to come right back.'_

'_I promise.'_

_Diana opened the door of the car and Maia slipped out._

_'Have fun' she called as she watched Maia happily skipping towards the edge of the forest, heading towards the path. _

_'I will' Maia called back, and Diana took a book of of the glove compartment._

ooo

In her apartment, Diana turned over in bed, breathing heavily.

ooo

_Looking up from her book, Diana checked her watch again. She had read the same paragraph over 5 times, her mind too focused on Maia to take anything in. It had been half an hour... she knew 8 year olds had very little sense of time... but surely Maia realised her 5 minutes was up long ago._

_Diana got out of the car and walked through the light drizzle to the start of the path. She peered into the gloomy forest. _

'_Maia?'_

_Her call echoed eerily, and she shivered in the chilly mist, unerved by an odd sensation that something wasn't quite right._

ooo

Diana twisted and turned violently in her bed, sweat beading on her forhead.

ooo

'_Ma'm... you need to calm down.'_

_A police officer was standing before her, his hand on her shoulder. _

'_But my kid! She can't have just... disapeared! You have to keep looking. It's getting dark, she'll be cold... scared...'_

'_Ma'm...you have to understand. It's only a very small section forest, and we've searched it for over 8 hours. We have to start acting on the very likley possibility that someone has taken her from the path. There are no rivers she can have fallen in to, no steep drops - it's a subburban recreational park. Ms Skouris... your daughter is not here.'_

_Diana began to hyperventilate, as the officer turned to his partner._

'_Put out the call, Dave. We have a missing child.'_

ooo

Diana awoke with a cry that was part scream, part choke. She bolted out of bed and into her bathroom, where she was violently sick. Breathing heavily, she gulped water from the tap and was heading back through the door as Maia came rushing in.

'Mom...?!'

Maia's eyes were wide and she looked scared to ask any questions. She knew something bad was up. Something that had been coming for a while.

Diana put her hand to her mouth, and sank to the floor.

'Maia... I'm going to ask you some questions, and I need for you to tell me the truth, okay. Don't worry about what will happen if you tell me these things. I really need to know. Don't be scared, okay. We can figure this out. I just have to know.'

Maia nodded, hugging herself tightly.

'Maia, when you were born...were you premature? Were you born early?'

Maia nodded again. 'My... my mother said I almost died.'

Diana swallowed, willing herself to go on. She didn't want to know, and yet she did.

'Do you remember...did your mom ever tell you about a dog - at a playground, when you were young?'

Maia looked up now, unsure.

'It.. it never affected me. We had Lemon.. and I was never afraid of him, even after it happened. My father... he was always impressed how well I coped... I was never afraid of dogs. My mother though... she was very wary of dogs after. She didn't like me to get to close... even Lemon, she always watched him around me. She said she had never been so scared, not ever in her life. Apart ... apart from...'

Diana finished for her.

'Apart from the day you were born.'

Maia nodded somberly.

'Mom?' She began tearfully. 'How did you know about the folder? It's the same, isn't it. How you know about these things, and how you know about the folder?'

It was Diana's turn to nod in agreement, and she rose to sit on the bed.

'Mommy...? Mommy, I'm...I'm scared.'

The last word disolved into a sob, and Diana felt utter devastation at the distress she was causing her daughter.

'Maia...' She opened her arms, feeling a gut wrenching hope that the mother daughter bond wasn't broken, that one thing she could still be certian of. She needed for that bind to still work, to help Maia through this... she needed it to still be intact.

'Maia... I'm sorry.'

After a moment's hesistation, Maia overcame the fear that they were different now, and flew into her mother's arms. And Diana was wrapping her arms around her daughter as tightly as she could, and the bind was still there, and Maia was relieved to discover she still felt safe in her mother's embrace.

The two considered their feelings as they sat there. It was okay, they were still mother and daughter, nothing had changed. But the fear was there.. that something was trying to change it for them.

Not wanting to let Maia go, scared to break the bind, Diana leaned over to the nightstand, one arm still around her daughter, and grabbed her cell.

Pressing the speedial, she waited for him to answer as Maia rested quietly against her chest.

'Tom... It's me. There's something big going on here... bigger than I think we're prepared for.'

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I am SO sorry for the massive delay, 2008 has just started off with more of a mad rush than I anticipated! But as long as there are readers and reviewers, then I will finish the story. I want to know how it ends as much as you!


	5. Chapter 5

**Memories Are Made Of This**

_Disclaimer: If I owned The 4400...it would not be over. Don't even get me started_.

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Sitting on a stool in the theory room, Diana was struggling to sort out her feelings. She almost felt relief to be away from Maia, who was sitting in Toms office drinking hot cocoa. It was as if every time she looked at Maia, all the love she had for her came to the surface, and she realised that Maia's parents had had the same love for her, and Maia had been taken away from them.

There was a part of Diana that felt great guilt at this, as if she had taken in a puppy that wasn't really lost. She had tried not to dwell on it before, what Maias parents had gone through. But now here she was practically going through it herself.

And then there was more guilt, guilt that she even felt an ounce of relief being away from her daughter.

Diana let out an audible sigh and Marco looked up from his computer.

'It'll be okay, Diana, we'll figure this out.'

Tom nodded in agreement. 'I almost wonder...wether this isn't something to do with the fact that Maia was the first to be taken ... some kind of idea the future is experimenting with on you. It's like they have some kind of inisght into your mind - when you pick up on things like the 1940's wardrobe, they change them, replay them. '

Diana looked pained. 'Well gee, now I feel much better.'

Marco nodded.' Like they're trying to create a lifetime length movie of Maia's life so far, and play it in your head.'

Tom was silent for a minute. 'Only Diana is playing Maia's mom. It's like... '

'Like they're trying to convince me that we were family from day one.'

Marco and Tom both looked at Diana.

'Like when I asked Maia about her art folder. Its like the dreams - they get so deep into my subconscious its so easy to feel that they're real, that it actually happened to me. I wake up and I can still remember how things smelled, whether I was hot or cold...'

Tom set his coffee mug down. 'Whats the chances they're doing this to be nice? I dunno, trying in their own twisted way to make you and Maia feel more connected?'

Marco snorted. 'Ah, not good I'd say.'

He sighed and turned back to his computer screen.

'Diana, get Maia home and into bed. Hopefully since your dreams have gone right up to the point where Maia disapeared, you'll get a good nights rest tonight.'

Diana nodded resignedly. 'Here's hoping.'

ooo

_She was sitting perfectly still. She stared at a spot on the table. It was shaped kind of like a map of America. She wondered how many people had sat in this chair, staring at the same spot, hoping, waiting, avoiding... she looked up as an officer came into the consult room._

'_Miss Skouris... we are doing everything we can. We have an amber alert out, K9 teams searching the area. Do you have any more recent photos?'_

_Diana searched through her wallet - she had already given them Maia's school picture - the only other picture she had on her was tucked right at the back of her wallet, so that she wouldn't loose it. Her and Maia, arms around each other, smiling and carefree. She pulled it out every now and then to remind herself no matter what happened, nothing was more important than Maia._

_She held on to the picture for a moment, reluctant to part with it. The officer was patiently reaching for it when another officer hurridly put his head around the door and beckoned his coworker. The officer was only gone for a few seconds before he returned._

'_You can keep the picture.' He grinned. 'We've found her.'_

In her bed, Diana rolled over, her breath coming in shallow gasps.

_Diana stood abruptly, following the officer out of the room quickly._

'_Where is she! Is she okay?'_

_If it was even possible, she felt almost more panicked as she considered the state her daughter could be in. It was long past dark._

_The officer showed her out the door and into a waiting patrol car. He closed it after her and jumped into the passenger seat._

'_Your daughter was just bought into the country hospital. Aparently she was found about an hour ago not far from the park. An elderly couple discovered her unoncious on the outskirts of the reserve.'_

_Diana's heart was in her throat and she daren't not open her mouth incase she threw up._

'_It looks like she fell - hit her head on something. A nurse remembered our officer calling to look for a girl of similar description earlier in the afternoon - she had a hunch the girl might be Maia, and we've been able to positively identify her.'_

_Diana had so many questions, yet she couldn't seem to find a voice to ask them. It was as if, deep down in her subconsciours, she already knew the answers._

_She heard the officers muttering about there being no sign of her when they searched the park, but she had already tuned out._

_The car pulled up in the drop off zone and then Diana was running, tears in her eyes, the officers following. She came to a stop in the middle of the ER, for a split second not sure what to do._

'_Please, I want my mommy.'_

_Only Diana, as her mother, could have heard the tearful plea above the noise of the ER, every fibre in her body reacting to the voice she had thought she might never hear again._

_She whirled around and headed towards the voice, ducking inside the curtain and coming face to face with her daughter._

'_Mommy!'_

'_Oh... oh god, Maia' And she had found her voice again and she was holding her daughter tightly and Maia's tears were mixing with her own as they clutched at each other desperately and she would never, ever break this embrace. _

_She could hear the doctors soothing voice telling her that Maia was okay, but all Diana could do was tell her self that she would never, ever let anything happen again that would mean her loosing Maia._

And then, with a gasp for breath, Diana awoke.

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Next and final chapter up soon!


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